Website Creator: Argument Over 1-800-GAMBLER Misses A Bigger Point

Have you ever argued about something with your spouse or boss or friend, only to realize later the argument was pointless? Not the argument itself, but the subject of the argument?

Well, Jamie Salsburg — who calls himself a “frustrated activist” at this point in his gambling career arc — just dropped something that calls attention to a certain argument happening now in the gambling world, one that he clearly thinks is pointless.

What did Salsburg do? He created a little website: 800-gambler.com.

“I thought it was odd that 800-gambler.com wasn’t registered,” he told me.

Before we get to the website, a little background: The fate of the 1-800-GAMBLER number is in flux right now. A New Jersey judge ruled that the National Council for Problem Gambling (NCPG) must stop operating the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline by Sept. 29, returning control to the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (CCGNJ). The NCPG had leased the number for three years, paying $150,000 annually, but the license expired in May. The NCPG is appealing and seeking an emergency stay, warning the transition could disrupt nationwide problem gambling services.

To which Salsburg says, “I’m just tired of watching the same people argue about dumb things.”

Which led to the creation of this website, which points out that maybe a phone number isn’t the best way to reach problem gamblers these days.

In the year 2025 …

“The year is 2025 and most people haven’t placed a phone call in days/weeks/months,” he wrote by way of introduction to the site. “Given the nature of gamblers to not disclose their issues — something you’ve all mentioned constantly — the concept of using a phone number was always less than ideal. You can’t cling to the narrative that this is the ‘silent addiction’ and then turn around and promote the primary means of getting help to be calling a random person on the phone. Get over yourselves and move into the digital age … with an approach that actually fits the wants and needs of the target audience you aim to help.”

Salsburg then details all the ways the NCPG, the CCGNJ, and every other collection of consonants and vowels dedicated to fighting problem gambling should go about their business.

Such as a website featuring a button to place a phone call. A button to make an appointment with a counselor. A button to find a local support meeting, listen to a podcast about gambling addiction, an app to block gambling sites, an app to help quit, an app to exclude yourself …

You get the picture.

“I know this will ruffle some feathers, but hopefully the takeaway is ‘maybe we should improve our approach’ rather than ‘how dare he do/say that,’” Salsburg, a recovering problem gambler, told me. “But time will tell.”

I mean, he ain’t wrong. I famously(?) posited a few months ago that “RG is dead,” and the idea that a phone number is still the top o’ the charts when it comes to problem gamblers seeking help didn’t even dawn on me as an issue.

Probably because it’s so well-established.

For responsible gambling to be effective, it’s time to break up the old ways of thinking. And Salsburg’s point — A phone number? Really? That’s the whole plan? — makes a ton of sense.